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Sunday, June 19

Dweezil Zappa breaks his silence about the controversy surrounding the Band's' Name change and more of the issues with the Zappa estate.

Dweezil Zappa breaks his silence about the controversy surrounding the band's name change and more of the issues with the Zappa estate.

Dweezil broke his silence by attacking social media with his side of the story. I think he felt he had to with all the press lately. It's latest tour is ironically called "The Cease and Desist Tour". Well, I will let Dweezil speak for himself, this is a direct statement taken from his website:

Questions, questions, questions... flooding into the mind of the concerned young person today! People are asking me, "Why is all this ZFT stuff happening?" The shortest answer is this:

There is a contract dispute that began in 2006 when the Zappa Plays Zappa tour started. My mother reneged on our tour merchandise contract, keeping 100% of the tour merch revenue for herself from 2006-2015. She failed to resolve this injustice in her lifetime. Ahmet and Diva Zappa have the ability to resolve the injustice as trustees of the ZFT. Instead of trying to make things better they have made things worse by demanding to continue to take 100% of the tour merch revenue from me and if I am not agreeable then I am not allowed to continue touring, according to them. I can continue to tour but not as Zappa Plays Zappa. I changed my name to a perfectly legal new name Dweezil Zappa Plays Frank Zappa. Since then they have sent me misguided threats of prosecution and another CEASE and DESIST letter. It has become quite an unfortunate situation. The odd part is I offered them a very fair and generous opportunity to sell ZFT merch on my tour to which I would split 50/50. I didn't have to do that. Surprisingly, they rejected it. I guess they would rather have 100% of nothing than 50% of something. Anyway that ship has sailed...

I can offer you some insight in to the questions I have myself by sharing the conclusion of my lawyer's response to the most recent Cease and Desist letter I received from the ZFT.

Putting all of the legal issues aside, none of the positions you have taken make sense from a business prospective. Dweezil is an acclaimed musician in his own right. To your own detriment, you have now stopped him from using his father’s name as a fair and accurate description of the music he intends to play. Dweezil has diligently and faithfully maintained a presence of his father’s legendary music within the worldwide public eye for a decade without any cease and desist letters from Gail Zappa. No one benefited greater from Dweezil’s efforts than Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust, yet your client threatened litigation as soon as he became a trustee.

Dweezil has done more than anyone in the family, including Frank’s widow, to promote Frank Zappa as a musician/composer, as a brand and a cultural and musical icon. He has done so with humility and the utmost integrity. Your client has continuously tried to stop him, all the while ignoring the many musicians and bands across the globe who actually infringe on Frank Zappa’s name and likeness. What are you and your client really trying to achieve?

When there is an injustice what do you often see people do? They rally together, make signs and shout in the streets so that people can hear about the injustice they are suffering.

Since the efforts to deal with this ZFT matter privately have been met with threats I have been put into the position to have to share the story publicly and stand up for myself by figuratively walking the picket line with a sign that says ZFT Don't Tread On Me!

The last thing I want is for any of this drama to overshadow my Father's music. His commitment to excellence and his integrity have always been a guiding light for me.

I understand there may be some public confusion about all of this. Multiple name changes etc. I also understand that this drama may be a turn off to people.

At the end of the day I believe my father's music deserves to be heard not silenced. I will now be playing it with an even stronger resolve than ever before under the name my father gave me:

DWEEZIL ZAPPA

I would like to thank everyone for their support . Because of the absurdity of it all I have named our upcoming tour the CEASE AND DESIST TOUR 2016.

Questions, questions, questions... flooding into the mind of the concerned young person today! People are asking me, "Why is all this ZFT stuff happening?" The shortest answer is this:

There is a contract dispute that began in 2006 when the Zappa Plays Zappa tour started. My mother reneged on our tour merchandise contract, keeping 100% of the tour merch revenue for herself from 2006-2015. She failed to resolve this injustice in her lifetime. Ahmet and Diva Zappa have the ability to resolve the injustice as trustees of the ZFT. Instead of trying to make things better they have made things worse by demanding to continue to take 100% of the tour merch revenue from me and if I am not agreeable then I am not allowed to continue touring, according to them. I can continue to tour but not as Zappa Plays Zappa. I changed my name to a perfectly legal new name Dweezil Zappa Plays Frank Zappa. Since then they have sent me misguided threats of prosecution and another CEASE and DESIST letter. It has become quite an unfortunate situation. The odd part is I offered them a very fair and generous opportunity to sell ZFT merch on my tour to which I would split 50/50. I didn't have to do that. Surprisingly, they rejected it. I guess they would rather have 100% of nothing than 50% of something. Anyway that ship has sailed...

I can offer you some insight in to the questions I have myself by sharing the conclusion of my lawyer's response to the most recent Cease and Desist letter I received from the ZFT.

Putting all of the legal issues aside, none of the positions you have taken make sense from a business prospective. Dweezil is an acclaimed musician in his own right. To your own detriment, you have now stopped him from using his father’s name as a fair and accurate description of the music he intends to play. Dweezil has diligently and faithfully maintained a presence of his father’s legendary music within the worldwide public eye for a decade without any cease and desist letters from Gail Zappa. No one benefited greater from Dweezil’s efforts than Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust, yet your client threatened litigation as soon as he became a trustee.

Dweezil has done more than anyone in the family, including Frank’s widow, to promote Frank Zappa as a musician/composer, as a brand and a cultural and musical icon. He has done so with humility and the utmost integrity. Your client has continuously tried to stop him, all the while ignoring the many musicians and bands across the globe who actually infringe on Frank Zappa’s name and likeness. What are you and your client really trying to achieve?

When there is an injustice what do you often see people do? They rally together, make signs and shout in the streets so that people can hear about the injustice they are suffering.

Since the efforts to deal with this ZFT matter privately have been met with threats I have been put into the position to have to share the story publicly and stand up for myself by figuratively walking the picket line with a sign that says ZFT Don't Tread On Me!

The last thing I want is for any of this drama to overshadow my Father's music. His commitment to excellence and his integrity have always been a guiding light for me.

I understand there may be some public confusion about all of this. Multiple name changes etc. I also understand that this drama may be a turn off to people.

At the end of the day I believe my father's music deserves to be heard not silenced. I will now be playing it with an even stronger resolve than ever before under the name my father gave me:

DWEEZIL ZAPPA

I would like to thank everyone for their support . Because of the absurdity of it all I have named our upcoming tour the CEASE AND DESIST TOUR 2016.